WILMINGTON - It's rare in a game where the winning team scores 56 points to focus on the defensive effort.
But for the third week in a row, Heidelberg's defense was relentless.
The Student Princes allowed only 228 yards of total offense and no offensive points - the defense has allowed only seven points in the year's first three games - in a 56-2 whipping of Wilmington.
Wilmington's points came off a safety midway through the third quarter, but that only cut Heidelberg's lead to 35-2.
By then, Cartel Brooks already had TD runs of 5, 21 and 99 yards on his way to 231 yards on 20 carries for the unbeaten Student Princes (3-0, 2-0 Ohio Athletic Conference).
Michael Mees added TD passes of 21 yards to Mario Escalante and 2 yards to Donteea Dye to help forge the 35-0 lead.
Fact Box
Heidelberg 56, Wilmington 2
Heidelberg14141414 - 56
Wilmington0020 - 2
First Quarter
HU - Cartel Brooks 5 run (Dan Kilger kick), 12:09
HU - Brooks 21 run (Kilger kick), 05:24
Second Quarter
HU - Mario Escalante 21 pass from Michael Mees (Kilger kick), 2:32
HU - Donteea Dye 2 pass from Mees (Kilger kick), 0:33
Third Quarter
HU - Brooks 99 run (Kilger kick), 10:17
WI - Donnie Ary safety, 8:48
HU - Christian Dominguez 14 pass from Mees (Kilger kick), 3:55
Fourth Quarter
HU -Dontez Smith 27 run (Harry Stickelman kick), 8:08
HU - Bryan Lacey 16 run (Stickelman kick), 5:50
HUWI
First Downs3710
Rushes-yards55-45230-110
Passing yards243118
Comp-att-int23-31-116-34-3
Punts-ave.1-109-40.7
Fumbles-lost3-22-2
Penalties-yards4-455-45
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Heidelberg - Brooks 20-227; Lacey 13-109; Smith 11-96; Colin Bultinck 3-(minus 12); Jon Sandwisch 2-11; Team 2-(minus 3); C.J. Powell 1-13; Michael Hale 1-4; Mees 1-4; Aaron Kapelka 1-3. Wilmington - March Jones 11-33; Tyrell Richardson 10-28; Brandon Arehart 7-44; Tyler Osborn 1-3; Alex Koyfis 1-2.
PASSING: Heidelberg - Mees 14-20-0-149; Bultinck 9-11-1-94. Wilmington - Arehart 12-23-0-66; Chris Cason 4-7-2-52; Brandon Minor 0-4-1-0.
RECEIVING: Heidelberg - Dye 4-51; Powell 4-25; Escalante 3-36; Robert Gray 3-34; Dominguez 2-24; Ryan Fischer 2-18; Ethan Kindle 1-15; Zach Hogya 1-14; Derek Hug 1-13; Kapelka 1-10; Brooks 1-3. Wilmington - Kyle Akers 3-53; Justin Lee 2-25; Stephen Donoghue 2-15; Richardson 2-11; Ryan Smith 2-4; Jones 1-11.
The safety did little to stop Heidelberg.
Christian Dominguez hauled in a 14-yard scoring pass from Mees later in the third quarter, and the Student Princes got touchdown runs of 27 yards by Dontez Smith and 16 yards by Bryan Lacey in the fourth on the way to 695 yards of total offense.
"They're looking at the big picture of how good can we be," Heidelberg coach Mike Hallett said. "Our guys are optimistic for where were are, but have an eye on the process of being great."
Lacey backed Brooks with 109 yards on 13 carries, and Smith ran 11 times for 96 yards.
Mees went 14 of 20 passing for 149 yards, and Colin Bultinck added a 9-of-11 effort for 94 yards.
Dye hauled in four passes for 51 yards to lead a list of 11 Student Princes with receptions.
HU blows by St. Vincent
LATROBE, Pa. - Ryan Smith and Hamid Shariff each had a goal and assist Saturday as Heidelberg's men's soccer team thumped St. Vincent 5-0.
Goals by Christopher Koczak, Tyler Eoff and Sean Dunlap gave the Student Princes (4-4) a 3-0 lead by halftime.
Smith and Shariff each booted penalty kicks in the second half after turning in assists in the first half.
Matthew Stevens added two saves in net for Heidelberg.
